An Innocent Spark [Zukka]

Chapter 60: Zuko's Bravery

The familiar deep echo reverberated by the sturdy handcrafted door to his uncle's room was at once calming and unnerving for the young Fire Lord. The nerves were only amplified as it opened, its heavy weight causing the hinges to creak in a bone-chilling way.

It was almost as if an invisible weight hung from his ankles as he slowly dragged them across the mahogany floorboards. Time seemed to slow to an uncomfortable extent, all while his mind raced with thoughts of how his decision would change his nation.

The world snapped back into focus as his uncle set down a cup of ginseng tea on the coffee table next to the fireplace. Somehow Zuko had made it across the dimly lit room and had sat down without realizing it.

"Have you made up your mind nephew?" Iroh asked. His eyes were trained on his Zuko, slightly squinted as if trying to read the young man's mind.

"I have to do this," Zuko said, his voice weak despite the irrevocable feeling in his gut telling him what he was doing was the only right choice.

"Just because a choice is necessary does not make it an easy one to make," Iroh said. "You know there will be consequences to your action, but we often have to be seen as the villains before we can be seen as heroes."

"I know," Zuko said flatly, his mind still focused on the reaction of the world and all the ways his life would be changed forever.

"Does he support your decision?" his uncle asked in a way that did not project criticism nor approval.

"He doesn't know," Zuko said. He wished he had the strength to tell him, but he knew telling him would only make the action more anxiety-inducing.

"His reaction may not be what you want it to be," Iroh said.

"I can't control other people's reactions or their actions, only my own," Zuko said. He shocked himself with his words, as for a moment he sounded more like his uncle than himself. "I know what has to be done, and I'm willing to lose everything so in the future no one else will have to go through what him and I have."

"Then there is nothing left to do but to do the thing which scares you most," Iroh said, picking up his cup of tea and sipping quietly on it.

"Thank you uncle," Zuko said. The young firebender finished his tea and stood up, a strength in his bones and a certainty in his step as he exited through the same door that had minutes before sent shivers down his spine.